On the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding will host a discussion Thursday on the state of the war with former State Department and Pentagon experts on the region.

Dickey Center Director Victoria Holt will moderate the conversation with Spencer Boyer, the Dickey Center’s Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs and recent deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy, and former Ambassador William Taylor, the 2019 chargé d’affaires to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009.

“I know Ambassador Taylor from my career in foreign affairs,” says Holt, a former deputy assistant secretary for international security with the State Department. “He was pivotal to understanding the immediate implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

“Ambassador Taylor has a reputation as a steady hand in international affairs, a career diplomat with a track record of problem solving. We’re really fortunate to have him in conversation with Spencer Boyer, our Magro fellow who just recently stepped down as a key member of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s team during a historic time for transatlantic relations, European security, and NATO.”

Taylor, a West Point graduate and former infantry officer in Vietnam, was a key witness in the Ukraine-related impeachment of then-President Donald Trump.

The discussion begins at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, in Haldeman 041. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

The Dickey Center event will be open to the public and will be livestreamed and recorded. Registration is required for the livestream.

The Dickey Center organized the discussion in collaboration with the Alexander Hamilton Society at Dartmouth.